Meet another CAL rival in semifinals Wednesday night

Published November 7, 2018

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

LYNNFIELD — If it were mixed martial arts, Newburyport would have had a chance.

The No. 1-seeded Pioneers stuck to their game during Sunday’s Div. 3 North boys’ soccer quarterfinal at LHS and beat their CAL foes 2-0.

It was the third game between the Clippers and Pioneers this season with each team winning at home during the regular season.

Newburyport’s plan for the road rubber match revolved more around stopping Lynnfield’s best players by any means necessary than playing soccer. 

The Pioneers, having already went through two extremely physical games against the Clippers this season, stayed the course and took the high road on many occasions as they kept their focus on a season-long goal: advance in the tournament.

An early goal from senior Max Sieger, a penalty kick goal from senior captain Jonathan Luders and great work from the defense, headed by senior David Gentile, sent the Pioneers on to the next round.

“It’s just kind of a deep breath,” said Lynnfield head coach Brent Munroe, who admitted a weight had been lifted for this talented group of seniors who got their first playoff win during their third year in the dance. “We worked really hard this year to get a good seed and we were excited to get a home playoff game.”

Pioneer Stadium was excited too, with a great show of support from the home fans.

MAX SIEGER watches a celebration unfold at Pioneer Stadium after his early goal gave Lynnfield a 1-0 lead over Newburyport during Sunday’s D3N quarterfinal matchup. The Pioneers meet Pentucket at St. John’s Prep on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Also pictured is Alejandro Lynch (13), Tom Buston (12), Jonathan Luders (4) and Nathan Bass (8). (Dan Pawlowski Photos)

It started when the PA system had a hard time playing the National Anthem. After about a minute of silence, both fan bases, with a mix of “lets get this game going” and National Pride, started up their own rousing rendition.

The Pioneers took advantage of the charged atmosphere early. Yes, they worked hard this year to earn a bye in the first round. Playing a quarterfinal on your home turf? Now that’s fun.

Not five minutes in, Lynnfield captain Nathan Bass played a beautiful ball up to Sieger on the right side, who ran onto it and after one touch tucked it into the far side for a 1-0 lead and a massive tone-setter.

“The early goal was huge. That was a big lift for us,” said Munroe. “Max is a great goal-scorer. He might be our best finisher around the box. He loves opportunities in there and usually takes them well.”

Not lost on the first-class finish was the pass from Bass.

“Nathan played a great game today,” said Munroe. “That ball was perfectly timed, if it came a half second later Max wouldn’t have gotten in.”

The rest of the half was a fight and not just for 50/50 balls. Both teams were physical and playing with every ounce of energy. The Pioneers had the better chances. Luders had a couple of great bids. One off a nice trailing pass from Tom Buston. Luders later rang the top right post and Sieger just missed a great opportunity off a feed from Luders.

Gentile and the back line, including Luke Martinho, Matt Juliano and Alejandro Lynch, all did well to clear the zone. The Clippers didn’t have any good chances in the first half.

It’s safe to say the Pioneers were buzzing. Newburyport responded by upping the physicality, especially on Lynnfield’s skill players like Luders, who at one point took a shot to the mouth and had to come off the field (for about 15 seconds).

“Last time we played them John took so many fouls we had to take him out,” said Munroe. “It was too dangerous. Everyone knows he’s a good player and some teams treat it differently than others.”

None of that really phased the captain, whose been hit worse by wild ground balls throughout his baseball career.

During a late timeout, while Luders got the all clear after a quick dental check from Dr. Dave Pawlowski, a two-time CAL soccer MVP during Lynnfield’s ‘73 and ‘74 seasons, coach Munroe was telling his team to focus on the game and not the extracurriculars.

It was more of the same in the second half, but with the intensity heightened as the Pioneers clung to a one-goal lead.

About eight minutes into the second frame, the Pioneers capitalized on a free kick. Set up almost to the halfway line, Luders played in a low cross to a cutting Bass who was taken out from behind by the Newburyport keeper, earning a penalty kick for Lynnfield. Luders got the call and buried one into the bottom right corner for a 2-0 lead.

During a second half that was hostile at times, the Pioneers rose above and finished the game strong, especially defensively. Gentile won nearly every ball in the air and Lynch did a nice a job on the right side against one of the Clippers’ best players. Keeper Jack Campbell was strong when called upon, including a great punch on a free kick with four minutes lef, and the Pioneers moved on, thankfully with everyone in one piece.

“They’re physical, they play hard,” said Monroe of Newburyport. “The message after the game was just ‘congratulations.’ Now we’re at a neutral site and we’ve accomplished a lot so far.”

Up next, Lynnfield meets another CAL foe as Pentucket will stand in the way of the Pioneers and the D3 North Final.

The familiarity is there for the Pioneers, who have defeated Pentucket twice so far this season (Sept. 28, 3-1 and Oct. 17, 4-0).

But this is a different stage. Lynnfield will need to bring their best. Kickoff at St. John’s Prep is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m.

CUTLINE

MAX SIEGER watches a celebration unfold at Pioneer Stadium after his early goal gave Lynnfield a 1-0 lead over Newburyport during Sunday’s D3N quarterfinal matchup. The Pioneers meet Pentucket at St. John’s Prep on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Also pictured is Alejandro Lynch (13), Tom Buston (12), Jonathan Luders (4) and Nathan Bass (8). (Dan Pawlowski Photos)